Affordable $3.50 laksa with aromatic house-made rempah for a nostalgic style

Laksa is a type of dishes that both make it or break it. It may look deceptively easy, however there’s a ton of labor that goes into guaranteeing that the rempah (spice paste) is aromatic, whereas the laksa broth itself has an excellent stability between creaminess and richness.

That’s why once I heard of Min Ji Laksa, a humble laksa stall in Bendeemer Market & Food Centre, I knew I needed to make the journey right down to Boon Keng to provide it a strive. Online critiques raved about this beneficiant bowl of laksa, which wasn’t overly lemak, however nonetheless retained an excellent depth of flavour because of its house-made rempah.

This was my first time going to Bendeemer Market & Food Centre, however I positioned the hawker centre fairly simply— it was a mere two to a few minute stroll from Boon Keng MRT.

I made it a degree to reach at round 11am to intentionally keep away from the lunch crowd, however to my shock, the hawker centre was already filled with folks! Streams of consumers had been lining as much as queue for a number of well-liked stalls within the hawker centre, together with Hwa Heng Beef Noodle and Yong Xiang Carrot Cake.

As I squeezed previous the dense crowd and ultimately positioned Min Ji Laksa, I used to be mildly bowled over to seek out that it too, had a rising queue in entrance of its storefront regardless of solely promoting two objects on its menu: Laksa (S$3.50/S$4.50/S$5.50) and Mee Rebus (S$3).

Welp, time to start out queuing.

What I attempted

I made a decision to order Min Ji Laksa’s namesake dish, Laksa (S$3.50), and was pleasantly shocked to obtain an extremely first rate portion contemplating its inexpensive price ticket.

I noticed an excellent quantity of thick bee hoon, an egg that was sliced in half, a number of items of tau pok, slices of fish cake, a number of cockles, and naturally, a beneficiant quantity of laksa gravy. 

For simply S$3.50, this dish was an entire steal. Based on the quantity of substances given and the wealthy orange hue of the laksa gravy, I used to be already impressed— and I hadn’t even began consuming!

I eagerly took a sip of the laksa gravy. There was a direct style of coconut milk, adopted by a creamy and aromatic savouriness from the house-made rempah, which added a pleasant spicy kick in direction of the top of every sip. The spectacular half got here from its texture— it wasn’t overly wealthy and actually remained fairly gentle and drinkable. 

I personally desire robust flavours, so a part of me wished there had been extra rempah or chilli paste in order that the gravy was extra gao and wealthy. Despite that, I couldn’t cease myself from consuming the laksa gravy, which had a homely style that jogged my memory of comforting home-cooked laksa.

Later, I learnt that Min Ji Laksa’s rempah is ready from scratch and that loads of work goes into the high quality particulars— akin to peeling the shallots and garlic paste, and frying the paste to make sure it’s aromatic. It even took the shop proprietor an excellent two years of refining her recipe earlier than she lastly obtained the outcomes she wished!

Arguably, the tau pok was the very best ingredient on this easy bowl of laksa as a result of it soaked up all that superb broth, such that every chunk was bursting with flavourful goodness. There was additionally a faint roasted style to each chunk, which might’ve been achieved from toasting the tau pok previous to serving. 

I used to be glad that Min Ji Laksa had sliced the tau pok into bite-sized items, as a result of I popped each bit into my mouth as if it was sweet.

As if the portion wasn’t beneficiant sufficient, S$3.50 obtained me loads of cockles as properly. I counted about 5 to 6 items of small cockles, which had been recent and retained a briny style.

While the white bee hoon was nothing particular, it soaked up the laksa gravy fairly quick, so my recommendation to you’d be to ask for both much less noodles or extra gravy, relying in your urge for food and desire.

Even although Min Ji Laksa’s title may recommend that they solely promote laksa, you’d be shocked to know that they promote Mee Rebus (S$3) as properly.

Don’t belittle this straightforward plate of Mee Rebus, as a result of the house-made gravy was completely improbable. 

Thick and wealthy, the gravy was savoury with robust hints of nutty peanut and dried shrimp. It was full-bodied, fragrant and crammed with umami notes. The gravy was so thick that it caught to the yellow noodles— not that I’m complaining, thoughts you, as I ended up slurping the wonderful noodles.

There’s just one phrase to explain the gravy: shiok.

The Mee Rebus had loads of your typical toppings and garnishes as properly— fried tofu bits, sliced inexperienced chilli, a contact of lime, and fried shallots, which added a pleasant distinction by way of texture to the dish. 

Each chunk had only a little bit of all the things: crispiness from the fried shallots, freshness from the inexperienced herbs, sourness from the lime juice, and a pleasant warmth from the chilli and gravy.

Final ideas

This stall has perpetual queues, even throughout non-peak hours, and it’s actually clear why. Not solely are its dishes actually inexpensive, you’re getting first rate parts and nice flavour. I might style the quantity of exhausting work that went into each of those dishes, and it’s stalls like these that make me grateful for our native hawker tradition. 

While I used to be drawn to Min Ji Laksa due to its Laksa— which didn’t disappoint in any respect— I used to be impressed by its Mee Rebus and will surely make the lengthy journey right down to Bendeemer Market & Food Centre once more if I’m ever craving an genuine and hearty bowl of mee rebus.

Expected injury: S$3.50 – S$5.50 per pax

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